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In case any of you have been wondering what the heck happened to me, and whether this blog is still alive, I wanted to give you a bit of a personal update.

Since I last posted, I have been busy editing fantasy novels and novellas for some wonderful clients – so busy that I had absolutely zero time for writing. I also moved into a day job that has been personally rewarding but extremely busy, so that even finding time for editing has been a challenge.

I came to the realization that this isn’t a great way of balancing my life, particularly since one of my long-time personal goals has been getting back to my creative side. Editing is wonderful, and it’s always inspiring to read the works of others, but darn it, I want to write my own!

So as of 2018, I have decided to put editing on the back burner, and am now focusing on writing my first urban fantasy novel instead, with the hope of self-publishing it in 2019.

I also want to pick up posting here again, providing communication tips through the lens of sci-fi and fantasy, while taking more time to read the posts of all of my blogging friends!

I expect it will take some time for me to get back into regular posting, and that “regular” will probably mean something like monthly, but it’s a start (or shall we say, a return!).

For those reading this, thank you for all your past support of my blogging, and I look forward to chatting with you as we see what the year brings!

Think about one of your favourite fictional stories. Why did you like it so much?

I’ll bet a key reason you liked it is that the story had a character you cared about. Someone who felt real to you. Someone who drew you into their adventures and kept you captivated right to the very end of the plot.

It’s not easy to create a character who is consistently three-dimensional throughout a story. That’s why there are so many articles out there on strengthening the main character’s point of view.

One item that is sometimes overlooked, though, is the relationship between character and setting. This is particularly important in stories that are intended to have a narrow narrative distance between the reader and the character.

When I edit scenes involving setting descriptions, a common piece of advice I give is to think about the scene from the character’s…

All the recent discussions around Amazon’s updated policy on error flagging have made me think about what truly constitutes an “error.” Language is fluid, and its rules of usage continue to evolve over time. What our teachers told us to do in elementary school is not always the right way to approach things today.

So how do you know whether you’re on the right track when you’re writing? When you receive your edited manuscript and it’s full of markups, is it time for you to panic? I’m sure many of us have experienced that gut-wrenching feeling of failure when we encounter all those red marks. I know I have!

This is why I like to write detailed comments as I edit — so I can explain why I’ve made a change. When I perform a stylistic/copy edit, there are a number of reasons why I mark up a manuscript…